I was worried when they announced the
Wonder Woman relaunch artist. I've seen Dodson's other work, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Black Cat... All pinup girls. All the same body type, all the same face. Another cheesecake artist on
Wonder Woman. Same old objectification and disrespect, shameless pandering to adolescent boys, and "sex sells" mentality.
Seeing the cover in June's solicits relieved some of my fears. I was aware now that he could draw a different body type. But still, the poses, the potential for disrespect, the possible clothing... There was so much that could go wrong.
So when
Melchior linked to the
Terry Doson interview on Newsarama, I waited until I was ready to read his post and the interview. Of course, I went through and looked at the preview pages first.
May I draw your attention to the fourth panel? Here, let me isolate it.
Did you recognize those breasts?
No?
Well, I'm not surprised, seeing as they are
actually covered by the Wonder Woman emblem for once.
I daresay we can set our anxieties aside for now.
I have to say, I was never as worried.
ReplyDeleteWhile the Dodsons are rightly famous for their cheesecake art, they are also capable of varying their style to fit the character and setting. Poison Ivy was drawn as a brickhouse, sure, but Harley Quinn was always drawn shorter, with B or even A-cup, which fit her acrobatic fighting style and more girlish nature.
I do like that if you changed lasso to utility belt, this sequence would work just as well for Batman. It still fetishizes and sexualizes the character, but not more so because she's a woman.
I kind of wonder if part of the reason Dodson is trying so hard not to overly sexualize her is because when he was announced as artist, everyone and their grandmother went "Oh crap, terry dodson? The cheesecake in this book will be ludicrous." Maybe Dodson decided to prove people wrong.
ReplyDeleteThen I read steven's comment, and it seems less likely. My only exposure to Dodson's stuff had been the, ugh, Spider-Man/Black Cat mini (to be fair, the art wasn't the problem there), so I could see there being concerns about him drawing the Amazing Amazon.
It's good to hear he shows the some variability.
steven -- I was thinking of Superman myself, but you're right.
ReplyDeletecalvinpitt -- I wonder if it isn't more the "My wife is my first audience" quote from the interview. I mean, she does do the inking.
"The things I really went for were strength and beauty. Attractive. Powerful. Noble. Godlike. ... Something we’re trying to avoid is making her overtly sexy. We wanted her attractive, but not overtly sexy."
ReplyDeleteAnd with that, this comic went on my pull list. I only hope Heinberg can stay on for a while.
Wow. See, that's the kind of art that makes me want to run out and start buying more comics.
ReplyDelete(At the moment I'm saving my money for early June when I get an extra discount at work and will splurge on books as an early birthday present to myself. I may have to stop by an actual comic book store and pick this up in June as well.)